Marked
by layma
Summary: From the start, you're marked, it's impossible to escape from. You can run, you can hide, but it'll haunt you forever. The trios final year held the answers, and our heroes intertwined lives finally show the truth beneath. In the end, it had all come down to this. One battle. One prophecy. One fate.


"Do not be afraid, our fate  
cannot be taken from us; it is a gift."  
―_Dante Alighieri, Inferno_

* * *

Fate is a tricky thing, something you can't seem to run from, no matter how many before have tried. You'll never know when the next turn will come.

It seemed as if fate would have the three young students to be the front of a new revolution. For their names to be known throughout. For them to become the heroes they never intended to become. But fate had a funny way of doing things, as the trio would soon find out.

But our friend fate was how the lot found themselves beneath the pulsing lights, surrounding by the pounding music, with the slightest hope to find the one person they needed.

"Hermione!"Harry shouted, frantically looking around and over the countless sea of bodies, moving and spinning along with the ridiculously loud music that had started to give him a headache minutes before. "Hermione!" He shouted again, exasperatedly looking for the witch. He just then got a glance of a mess of brown curls weaving her way through the crowd towards him, obviously mouthing something, but the words were drowned out due to the shouts and music.

Harry moved forward, as she came closer, and moments later she'd grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the outskirts of the thick mass.

"He's not here!" She spoke as loud as she could, but it still sounded muffled to Harry's ears. He silently cursed, it was the only lead they had, coming to the Wizards Club.

He'd noticed the name of the club passed around the circle of dark wizards, and followers to the mass murderer who's name shot fear throughout most. But the orders loyal spies, for the lack of better words, had passed the information off to Harry, who was on a mission. But the only lead they had lay with Emorie Onpin, a high class death eater, who was well known on the magical black market.

And they had reason to believe that his next big sell was a clue, a rather big clue too, as it could possibly lead them to another horcrux, if their research and reasoning was correct. Of course... the trio didn't exactly have a clear picture of _what _the clue was, only that it was some heirloom of some 'd been told by their source it would be auctioned off tonight, at the known wizards club Midnights Fury, but there was no sign of any suspicious activities anywhere under the lights.

A minute had passed, and while Harry was lost in his thoughts, Hermione had gone and round up Ron, pulling him over to where they stood. He shook his head and gave a shrug, a sign that he had no such luck with the search too. Frustrated beyond all means, Harry groaned, and ran his fingers through his hair . Of course their search would have no such luck, they'd expected as much. A first sweep through confirmed their thoughts, Onpin wouldn't just be out in the open, nor would the secrets behind the seemingly harmless club would be presented openly to everyone. No, it'd be hidden, although how they'd find such a thing was proving harder than they originally hoped.

Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder, and brought him closer, to speak closer to his ear. "Just look out for anyone who doesn't exactly fit. Suspicious behavior I suppose? Anyone who doesn't belong. You know the likes. And watch them, we might get lucky." She then repeated this information over to Ron, who nodded in conformation.

Harry prayed she was right. This was practically the only shot they had at the moment, they couldn't allow this moment to slip out of their grasp. They'd be back at square one, and with the state of the rising war, that wasn't an option.

Harry allowed his mind to run over the past few months briefly, as he scanned the crowd from his dark corner while Ron and Hermione did the same on the opposite side. Throughout all the danger and adventures the three had over the past years, ever since they were small, more and more, not to mention worse, kept coming their way. And it all seemed to lead up to this. This "final battle'. The good versus evil. The wrong and the right. How it happened, he didn't know, but it did, and here they were.

Faithfully together throughout it all, with the help of so many others of course. He was sure they would come out on top in the end, if there ever was a solid end. But... although he always reassured the others of this, he was getting more and more frightened each day of the other possibilities, all of the 'what if's', and they scared him more than he could say.

It had already started down hill, over his sixth year, the ministry had been fighting back and forth between rules and laws over blood types and the issues and controversies constantly hovering around them. Now it was the summer, and It didn't exactly look to be heading in their favor either. He feared what might be coming, the fall of the ministry, mainly from the inside. If they passed the law being pushed at the moment, it would be horrid for their cause. He was praying that they could hold firm against it, and it wouldn't come to such things, but after all that happened, he wouldn't exactly be the most surprised.

A moment later Ron was by his side, whispering frantically in his ear. Time had flown by faster than it seemed he supposed, and about forty minutes had already passed. But Ron had spotted something, or more likely someone. He quickly pointed out to Harry, and next Hermione who had swiftly joined the two boys as soon as she saw movement.

The three watched the older man, his face halfway hidden from their view as he walked painstakingly slow around the outer rim of the large room, and towards the far right hand corner. There he was met by another man, both dressed in similar dark robes, looking to be made of expensive material. Immediately Harry zoned into their interaction, and a moment later, after a quick but seemingly cold greeting between the two, they made their way through a door on the right hand wall, that had looked like a storage closet earlier.

So naturally, the trio quickly followed. Mostly shoving their way through several people, the reached the door they had saw them enter through only moments before. Wrenching it open quickly, Harry stepped in, holding it open behind him for Ron, then Hermione to grab.

He was met with nothing.

He looked around. It did, in fact, look just like a storage closet. Just that, nothing out of the ordinary. But they all knew that to be a lie.

It was Hermione to speak first, always the one to try and find the solution.  
"Only a mask spell, it ought to be. Simple, but effective." She nearly muttered as she started to paw around in her enchanted bag. She then pulled out nothing other than Harry's own invisibility cloak, and handed it over towards him.

He ran his fingers over the fabric for a moment, before whipping it on. He gave a small grin as he did so. They had all decided earlier it would be safer for him to go in alone, given they found the auction room. For him to sneak in, and out, without being seen was a safer bet than all three trying to go in undercover. Better for one to be caught, if it came to that, than the lot of them.

Ron gave him a small grin back, and then was jerked back by Hermione, who had moved backwards, and was preparing to speak the enchantment.

"I sure hope you've got the right one 'Mione." Ron mumbled, which earned him a small swat from Hermione.

"Oh do hush Ronald. It's simple. They're practically hiding it in plain sight. No one would really think there's anything behind here would they?" She gave him an eyeroll, and then sent out the spell. _Factus Viderat._

"Go on Harry, and if anything goes wrong _get out._ Who know's how many could be in there. We'll be waiting right out here." Hermione said, as she gave him a small but encouraging nod and they slipped back out the way they came.

* * *

Harry took a short breath, then pulled his cloak on fully and walked through the small opening in front of him. As he slowly and quietly started to follow the growing voices he heard down the long dark hallway, as it was his first instinct, he was faintly aware of the doorway sealing up behind him. His walk then quickened, but he stayed as silent as possible. As he walked, the voiced grew louder and louder, and the light at the end of the hall grew brighter, and soon he found himself in the doorway of the auction room.

It looked like you would expect, seating all around, rich folk in every corner, and bidders everywhere. But these pieces weren't what you'd guess, they were all dark artifacts. Why so many were interested in such things, Harry didn't know, but he was only after one.

He stayed against the back wall, and watched it all unfold. Careful to keep out of the way, and keep hidden, Harry made sure to be on the look out for what was supposed to be lot 666. Ironic, he knew, but he had a while to go before his number. He planned on following whoever purchased the item, and to somehow get the object later without showing himself, but plans never seem to work for some unknown reason.

Lot after lot, he watched. Keeping his breathing steady, and his focus, they slowly inched their way up, and before he knew it he was staring at... a cup. A cup, a single cup. A goblet if you wanted to say, but it was no bigger than any other cup. He had no clue what was so special about the thing, but he made sure to listen to each word said.

It didn't look as if too many were interested, as it didn't look like anything special, but a few went for it. And it eventually was sold, for a lower price to an elderly looking gentlemen, clothed in dark blue robes. He seemed a bit out of place amongst the rest of the younger gentlemen and women, but none the less, he was now in possession of what they needed, so that's who Harry watched.

The auction was was soon over, and as the buyers slowly filtered out one by one back where they came, Harry noticed Ondin sitting near the left wall. He looked like such a man as he would; smug, pleased, and triumphant. Which automatically made Harry turn up his nose, but it was more than just another self-righteous arse that caused him to glare from where he hid. It was the fact that this man looked so incredibly familiar, but was lost to Harry. It bothered him so, but he pushed it away and shook it off for the time being, as he started to follow the man who had bought the cup.

He had to rush to catch up to him along the long hallway, but tried his hardest to keep quiet. It was strange that he wasn't more nervous about being unseen in a room full with dark and powerful witch and wizards, but perhaps it was the fact he'd done far more dangerous things, or the fact that he was only focused on one task, that he hardly noticed. He kept up with the old man, and as he slipped out of the door back towards the oblivious dance floor full of people (which he suspected had a charm on it, that would cause people to not care or something along the sort, or perhaps people were really just stupid) he followed.

He saw Hermione and Ron waiting towards the back wall as he neared them, and when he made it into a corner, he was quick to slip off his cloak, and to stuff it in Hermione's waiting bag. He then grabbed both of them, and led them out towards where he last saw the old man. They made their way out of the club, and into the dark night. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blue turn a corner towards his right. So they followed.

The same thing happened at least three more times, and the trio followed suit. But on the fourth turn, after hurrying to catch up, but not to be obviously following through the thin crowd of people, they were met by a solid wall. They'd turned into a dead end. The three automatically on guard, they pulled out their wands and stood back to back, until Ron noticed the one thing out of the ordinary.

He crept near it slowly. It was just sitting in the middle on the floor, with no one in sight. He knew better than to get to close, or worse, touch it, but he peered at the thing curiously.

"What the.." He started, and called both his friends over. They all looked at the small silver cup.

"That's it!" Harry exclaimed, but he quickly turned around, on his toes, to see if anyone was about. "That's lot 666. That's what the old man bought, that's what we're after." He explained quickly.

"But why would it be here then? Is it a trap?" Ron asked, rather weary.

Hermione softly muttered some words, which Harry assumed was her check it over for curses or anything of the sort. She looked perplexed after wards and bent down before the cup.

"It's ah, clean." She announced, rather surprised. "There's nothing on it." Cautiously, she reached out a hand and before they could stop her, she poked it with one finger.

The three braced themselves for the worst, but shockingly nothing happened. They were all the most perplexed. This was a strange thing indeed, but eventually after a few more tries and such, they knew they had to take it with them. So in Hermione's bag it went, and although the mission had turned out rather strangely, and they were smart enough to still be weary of the whole ordain, they got what they came for successfully.

Afterwards, they had made their way back to the Orders hideaway, and presented the rest with the cup. They were thrilled, and quickly gathered to try and find the rest of the puzzle, and perhaps for a change get some answers. The three were tired though, and decided to leave the seeking to some others for the time being. Besides, their summer that had mostly consisted of research and missions and trying to find answers was almost over, and soon they'd be whisked back to Hogwarts.

Originally, they hadn't planned on returning with Dumbledores recent death, as it still laid heavily on all three of their hearts. But there was a price out for Harry's head, and while he tried to plead with the rest of the Order to let him help out and try to do _something _to help the cause, other than stay in classrooms all day long, they had insisted he return to Hogwarts, claiming it to be the safest place for them all at the time being.

With Minerva Mcgonagall in the place of Headmaster now, it was believed to be clear. Although many students weren't returning for that year, Harry, Ron, and Hermione unfortunately were. But a few stone walls and some magic wouldn't contain the trio for long, nor would it keep out the dark.

* * *

_Alright well hello hello. This is a new sort of project I'm working on I suppose, and I'm quite excited really. It'll take place during their seventh year, and yes some things will be switched around as this is from the makings of my own mind. So please, read and review, and I hope to get some more up real soon._

_- Lay_


End file.
